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--- YOU: People are complaining about choosing Bell in the 2d. If they hadn't taken him, he wouldn't have lasted to their pick in the third. In addition to being a "big back", he also has less wear and tear on him than Montee Ball. See stats below:

--- YOU: People are complaining about choosing Bell in the 2d. If they hadn't taken him, he wouldn't have lasted to their pick in the third. In addition to being a "big back", he also has less wear and tear on him than Montee Ball. See stats below:

right... I wanted Ball. I'm fine with Bell but his size concerns me... he runs a little too high IMO.

Ball is a good running back. But there are a few overlooked factors:

Factor #1- Ball carried the ball over 300 times in both 2011 and 2012. That is a whole lot of carries for a college RB in back to back seasons. 663 carries in two College Football seasons to be exact. He isn't going to last long in the NFL.

Factor #2- Ball ran behind one of the best o-lines in college history in 2011. Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler, and Travis Frederick all on one line together. 3 1st round lineman. That is huge, and his stats showed it. 6.3 yards per carry and 33 touch downs.

He still had a good o-line in 2012, but his ypc dropped by 1.2 yards in 2012. Ball ran a 4.66 at 214 lbs at the combine. 15 reps at 225.

Did I mention he had Russell Wilson at QB in 2011?

Le'veon Bell carried the ball 112 times in 2011. He carried the rock a ton in 2012, 382 times. His YPC has stayed consistently around 5.0.

Now tell me how many of his o-lineman went in the first round or were drafted? His lines were putrid at Michigan State. He also didn't have a QB this year when he toted the rock 380 times and still averaged 4.7 ypc. No QB and no o-line? No problem.

Le'veon ran a faster 40 than Ball with almost 20 more pounds of muscle. Put up 10 more reps on the bench, has bigger hands, and ran the fastest short shuttle at the combine. In other words, he's bigger, faster, stronger, and has better feet than Ball.

I'm not saying Ball isn't a good RB, but to me it looks like Bell is just coming into his own and Ball has already peaked in college.

--- YOU: People are complaining about choosing Bell in the 2d. If they hadn't taken him, he wouldn't have lasted to their pick in the third. In addition to being a "big back", he also has less wear and tear on him than Montee Ball. See stats below:

There were 24 running backs selected in the NFL Draft, and Le'Veon Bell is in the best position to lead all of them in rushing as a rookie. The Pittsburgh Steelers took Bell in the second round (No. 48 overall) from Michigan State, And They expect him to Be Able to carry the load Between the tackles, and beyond.

"He's a big back, No. 1, and a three-down back, que is a big thing for us," offensive coordinator Todd Haley said of Bell this week. "He has very good hands and catches the ball very well out of the backfield."

At 6-1, 230 pounds, Bell has drawn comparisons to former Titans star Eddie George and current Falcons feature back Steven Jackson. Bell is the product of a system Spartans That will help ease his transition to the Steelers.

"He's coming from a pro-style offense," Haley said. "A lot of the (Steelers') runs will be very similar to the runs That I was running."

Bell is very capable of winning the Steelers' running back competition and earning a Total of 20-25 carries / catches per game. He is listed ahead of holdovers Already Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman on Pittsburgh's depth chart, and free-agent Addition LaRod Stephens-Howling (5-7, 185) is built to be more of a third-down type.

I really think this is going to be our rookie of the year for the Steelers. He's being undersold by a lot of pundits except for former scout Bucky Brooks. Brooks thinks he the best RB in this class.

In rookie RB class, Steelers' Le'Veon Bell has best shot of breakout season

PUBLISHED Wednesday, May 1, 2013
by Vinnie Iyer Sporting News

Coming from a pro-style offense at Michigan State, Le'Veon Bell should not have a tough transition in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo)

There were 24 running backs selected in the NFL Draft, and Le'Veon Bell is in the best position to lead all of them in rushing as a rookie. The Pittsburgh Steelers took Bell in the second round (No. 48 overall) from Michigan State, and they expect him to be able to carry the load between the tackles— and beyond.

"He's a big back, No. 1, and a three-down back, which is a big thing for us," offensive coordinator Todd Haley said of Bell this week. "He has very good hands and catches the ball very well out of the backfield."

At 6-1, 230 pounds, Bell has drawn comparisons to former Titans star Eddie George and current Falcons feature back Steven Jackson. Bell is the product of a Spartans system that will help ease his transition to the Steelers.

"He's coming from a pro-style offense," Haley said. "A lot of the (Steelers’) runs will be very similar to the runs that he was running."

Bell is very capable of winning the Steelers’ running back competition and earning a total of 20-25 carries/catches per game. He is already listed ahead of holdovers Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman on Pittsburgh's depth chart, and free-agent addition LaRod Stephens-Howling (5-7, 185) is built to be more of a third-down type.

The only back drafted ahead of Bell, North Carolina's Giovani Bernard (No. 37), will be a complementary speed back for the Bengals, co-headlining a committee with BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The team also re-signed Bernard Scott and drafted another back, Nebraska's Rex Burkhead.

A fellow former Big Ten standout, Wisconsin's Montee Ball, was taken by the Broncos at No. 58 a few picks after Bell. In addition to being a prolific scorer who can help Denver's high-powered offense finish drives, Ball has the receiving and pass-protection skills to be trusted in third-down situations. Ball is much better in those latter areas than second-year player Ronnie Hillman, and his fresher legs were seen as a way to upgrade from Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno. Ball (5-10, 214) will have a shot at more touchdowns, but Bell is built better to be a bell cow early.

Eddie Lacy, the biggest-name back entering the draft, benefits from stepping into Green Bay's offense, where he can play off Aaron Rodgers. But Lacy comes with some durability issues that caused him to slide, and rookie fourth-rounder Jonathan Franklin of UCLA will be no slouch in preseason competition.

Considering a sixth-round pick—the Redskins’ Alfred Morris—put up 1,613 yards to lead all rookies last season, there are two fifth-round sleepers to watch in the NFC West this season: the Cardinals' Stepfan Taylor (Stanford) and the Rams' Zac Stacy (Vanderbilt).

In Arizona, Taylor, a strong power runner, has two backs (Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Williams) with major injuries in their recent past ahead of him. The Cardinals also drafted Clemson's Andre Ellington in the sixth round, but he has more the makeup of a dynamic change-of-pace back.

When former Pittsburgh Panther defensive back Andrew Taglianetti got invited to his hometown NFL team's rookie minicamp, he was living the dream.

But his wide-eyed state of awe didn't keep him from noticing the difference between his fellow rookies participating in their first NFL workouts with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the guys he used to play with at Heinz Field.

Following the camp, Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan asked Taglianetti, "Who was the biggest athletic freak you saw on the field?"

His answer: Former Michigan State running back Le'Veon Bell.

"I'll tell you what, Le'Veon Bell," Taglianetti said with no hesitation. "He's probably 230, 240 (pounds), I'm not sure about his weight, but he is really, really quick."

Quickness and breakaway speed, once considered Bell's weakness, seems to be his most surprising NFL attribute.

"There's a couple times I'd come up, and I was trying to establish myself, I tried to body some people and just like throw my shoulder into them," Taglianetti said. "But (Le'Veon) made me miss about three times."

Recently, ESPN's John Clayton reported that the Steelers believe Bell to be the next version of Chicago Bear's running back Matt Forte. Taglianetti had a comparison of his own.

"I told someone it was kind of comparible to a Ray Graham cut," Taglianetti said of his former Pitt teammate. Graham rushed for over 3,200 yards in his college career. "Ray Graham was always infamous for those jump cuts. Le'Veon has a little shake to him. I mean I was really impressed with him. I wasn't scared about getting run over, cause we didn't have pads on, but I think he has a lot of aspects to his game where he's going to be successful in the NFL.

"I really expect him to make a lot of plays next year for the Steelers."

When former Pittsburgh Panther defensive back Andrew Taglianetti got invited to his hometown NFL team's rookie minicamp, he was living the dream.

But his wide-eyed state of awe didn't keep him from noticing the difference between his fellow rookies participating in their first NFL workouts with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the guys he used to play with at Heinz Field.

Following the camp, Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan asked Taglianetti, "Who was the biggest athletic freak you saw on the field?"

His answer: Former Michigan State running back Le'Veon Bell.

"I'll tell you what, Le'Veon Bell," Taglianetti said with no hesitation. "He's probably 230, 240 (pounds), I'm not sure about his weight, but he is really, really quick."

Quickness and breakaway speed, once considered Bell's weakness, seems to be his most surprising NFL attribute.

"There's a couple times I'd come up, and I was trying to establish myself, I tried to body some people and just like throw my shoulder into them," Taglianetti said. "But (Le'Veon) made me miss about three times."

Recently, ESPN's John Clayton reported that the Steelers believe Bell to be the next version of Chicago Bear's running back Matt Forte. Taglianetti had a comparison of his own.

"I told someone it was kind of comparible to a Ray Graham cut," Taglianetti said of his former Pitt teammate. Graham rushed for over 3,200 yards in his college career. "Ray Graham was always infamous for those jump cuts. Le'Veon has a little shake to him. I mean I was really impressed with him. I wasn't scared about getting run over, cause we didn't have pads on, but I think he has a lot of aspects to his game where he's going to be successful in the NFL.

"I really expect him to make a lot of plays next year for the Steelers."

Factor #1- Ball carried the ball over 300 times in both 2011 and 2012. That is a whole lot of carries for a college RB in back to back seasons. 663 carries in two College Football seasons to be exact. He isn't going to last long in the NFL.

Factor #2- Ball ran behind one of the best o-lines in college history in 2011. Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler, and Travis Frederick all on one line together. 3 1st round lineman. That is huge, and his stats showed it. 6.3 yards per carry and 33 touch downs.

He still had a good o-line in 2012, but his ypc dropped by 1.2 yards in 2012. Ball ran a 4.66 at 214 lbs at the combine. 15 reps at 225.

Did I mention he had Russell Wilson at QB in 2011?

Le'veon Bell carried the ball 112 times in 2011. He carried the rock a ton in 2012, 382 times. His YPC has stayed consistently around 5.0.

Now tell me how many of his o-lineman went in the first round or were drafted? His lines were putrid at Michigan State. He also didn't have a QB this year when he toted the rock 380 times and still averaged 4.7 ypc. No QB and no o-line? No problem.

Le'veon ran a faster 40 than Ball with almost 20 more pounds of muscle. Put up 10 more reps on the bench, has bigger hands, and ran the fastest short shuttle at the combine. In other words, he's bigger, faster, stronger, and has better feet than Ball.

I'm not saying Ball isn't a good RB, but to me it looks like Bell is just coming into his own and Ball has already peaked in college.

Yes, and the same argument can be made against the other guy assumed to be in the mix in Rd 2, Eddie Lacy. Lacy had Warmack, Jones, and Fluker to run behind. It's not hard to see then, why Bell was picked over the other two.